Beyond The Music: ‘There is no HR department in the music industry’

Published

6 months ago

October 12, 2024

admin

“The music industry is broken,” says Oli Wilson, founder of Beyond The Music. But he hopes the event can play a part in helping to fix it.

From rapper Aitch to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, independent entrepreneurs to label executives, hundreds of music artists, experts and politicians came together in Manchester this week to discuss the biggest issues affecting the industry – from AI and the economics of streaming, to struggling grassroots artists and venues, and misogyny behind the scenes.

Now in its second year, Beyond The Music is a conference by day, city festival by night – set up as a co-operative as a place to address the “unprecedented and urgent challenges” facing the industry, but also to showcase up-and-coming talent and support the smaller venues in a city famous for its musical heritage.

Wilson, the founder, says the industry is struggling “across the board” – from the economic model that means “all the money’s staying at the top” in both recorded and live music, to the “imminent existential threat” of artificial intelligence (AI).

All of this feeds into a “mental health crisis”, he told Sky News. “It’s unregulated. There’s no HR department in the music industry. If you’re on tour with a band or if you’re working in a venue and you have mental health issues or perhaps you have issues with other work colleagues around you, who do you go to?”

Wilson, son of Tony Wilson, the man behind Manchester’s famous Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub, says the landscape for new artists is tougher than ever.

“There’s 140,000 new pieces of music being released every single day… coupled with the fact that it’s harder and harder for record labels to take the risks and invest in new artists and careers like they used to. It’s really difficult for grassroot musicians at the moment – and grassroots venues.

“The government are taking action to get a levy on arenas to put back into the grassroots. My belief is that it shouldn’t just be in the live context, it needs to be cross-sector – so record labels and publishing companies also should be putting into the grassroots pipeline.”

In the wake of the previous women and equalities committee’s misogyny in music report, released at the beginning of the year, campaigners also discussed the issues women have faced historically – and still face today.

Jen Smith, the chief executive of the newly formed Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA), says the organisation will go some way to bridging the HR gap as described by Wilson.

“There’s a persistent problem with behaviours, there’s a gap in provision for dealing with those behaviours and preventing those behaviours, and CIISA seeks to address that,” she says.

The authority is not an HR body, she adds, but will be the place to call on for confidential anonymous advice and to report any concerning behaviour. “And in serious, the most complex cases, CIISA would investigate. Because we’re a 70% freelance community across the creative industries, you often have these gaps in jurisdiction, if you like, about who is the responsible body.”

Zelda Perkins, who has campaigned against the use of non-disclosure agreements to prevent people speaking out about abuse in the creative industries, also spoke at the event.

“It’s cultural and it’s systemic,” she says. “But I do think that if legislation is there to protect people and I think if the legal sector also takes responsibility for its role in protecting powerful people to basically do whatever they want, that would make an enormous difference quite quickly.”

Annabella Coldrick, chief executive of the Music Managers Forum, says it can be a lonely industry for artists and managers, as they are essentially “individual businesses”.

When it comes to making money from streaming and touring, she points out that streaming has “brought the recorded music business back into growth” from piracy taking hold, and that there is money to be made – “but it is very much at the top end”, making it harder for smaller artists and those working with them.

“I’m not saying everything is awful – it’s not, but it’s a hard game,” she says. “It’s a long game and it often doesn’t make money for a really [long time]. So people do it because they love it – and sometimes they get to the stage where they’ve been doing it for long enough that they’ve finally convinced enough people that there is an audience there.”

Despite the serious issues, there is plenty to celebrate, says Wilson.

“It’s my belief – and this is the great thing about doing it in Manchester – that we can create localised markets that will support artistic careers. I think it is possible to create economies in an area like Greater Manchester, or across the North, which would sustain artists’ careers.”

There’s more music than there ever has been in Manchester and across the UK, he says. “We’ve had over 3,000 submissions to play festival this year. The quality of music is really high and it’s across every genre of music, which is brilliant.”

He hopes getting “key players” together will help bring about new ideas and new ways of working. “We’re here to make change.”

Entertainment

Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault

Published

6 hours ago

April 4, 2025

admin

Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.

The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.

The charges relate to four women.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.

Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.

He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.

The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.

Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.

The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.

He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”

Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.

“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”

Entertainment

Tom Cruise leads moment of silence in tribute to ‘dear friend’ Val Kilmer

Published

1 day ago

April 3, 2025

admin

Tom Cruise leads moment of silence in tribute to 'dear friend' Val Kilmer

Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.

Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.

Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.

His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.

Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.

“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.

“I wish you well on the next journey.”

The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.

Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.

Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.

He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.

Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.

He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.

In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.

The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.

Entertainment

Bruce Springsteen: The Boss to release seven ‘lost’ albums

Published

1 day ago

April 3, 2025

admin

Bruce Springsteen: The Boss to release seven 'lost' albums

Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.

The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.

The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.

Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.

Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.

Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.

The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.

Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.

The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.

Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.

The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.